The Aftermath
by broken chyld
Summary: ((rating will change later))) Harry is easily fed up with the Dursleys, and he leaves for Grimmauld place. Thinking he will find some peace there, it only gets more complicated. This will be a LONG FIC. Possible SS/HP later


Disclaimer: I'm just effing around with Rowling's toys. I promise, I won't break them. Or maybe I will..? Anyway, there all hers.  
  
MAJOR SPOILERS FOR OOTP!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ OOTP!!!!  
  
Post OotP : Aftermath - Chapter 1.  
  
Authors Note: This takes place about a week after OotP. Everyone in the FF community will have eons to write up what they think will happen in the sixth book, So I thought I'd get started early. Personally, I'm devastated by the turnout of the death in OotP. I was kindof obsessed with Siri. So, of course, I'm not going to let him stay 'beyond the veil'. Oh, No, He's gonna come walkin back through that veil, but of course, there are consequences. Nothing bad, just a little. encounter. If you greatly dislike Snape, or just have a habit of criticizing fiction authors b/c he's out-of- character, you won't like this fic. There is NO Harry/Lupin Slash. Later on in the fic there might be some Severus/Harry slash, but no Lupin/Harry. Possible references to RL/SB, I'm not sure where this fic is going yet. ENJOY!  
  
The Aftermath  
Chapter 1  
  
Harry spent a very short time back at four privet drive. After a week of coping with his thoughts and with Dudleys growing habit of beating Him, He picked up and left the Dursleys. The knight bus was right there awaiting him and he returned to Grimmauld place.  
  
He knocked on the door and had to wait a few minutes before a weary and disheveled Remus opened the door for him. ::::. Full moon was weeks ago.::::: Lupin immediately brightened up when he saw Harry and welcomed him in without hesitation. "Thanks for not ringing the doorbell, Would've woken up Mrs. Black.That wretch."  
  
Lupin offered Harry a cup of tea, and they sat in the living room in silence for a while, waiting for their tea to cool. Finally, Remus broke the wall of silence forming between the two. " Were they treating you that badly, Harry? I mean, It's only been a week.." He already knew that Harry had been tortured with many of the same thoughts that he himself has had since that tragic day down in the department of mysteries. " No, no, I've just had the last straw taken from me with all the rubbish I get on a 24/7 basis from my 'family', if that's what you'd call them." Harry sourly explained the half of his thoughts. Lupin nodded without thought and took a sip of his tea. A puzzled look crossed his face and he waved his hand over his mug and sipped again, and this time smiled. Harry watched in wonder. Lupin noticed this and explained a simple cooling/heating charm he'd learned when he was still going to Hogwarts. " I'm surprised no ones taught you that before, Harry. It's a common one among kids." Harry nodded.  
  
They were quiet for a long while. Harry remembered being in this room the night he'd had the vision of Mr. Weasley, everyone in quiet suspense and daring not say a word. This room always seemed to be so quiet. like now. Harry finished his tea and looked down into his mug, and that , too brought memories back. It was third year.:::::: In divination, we were reading our tea dregs. The grim. a big black dog. Just like p-p-padfoot.::::  
  
"Are you done staring into the bottom of your mug? I'm sure nothing's swimming in there.." Back to reality. Harry looked up to see Lupin looking concernedly at him, and an outstretched hand ready to take his mug, which was now full again, though this time with memories. As Lupin walked away, Harry's eyes blurred and he buried his face in his hands as the tears fell without control. Sirius was gone, and there was nothing he could do about that now. But back down in the department of mysteries he might have been able to do something. He had watched as Sirius had taunted Bellatrix, asking her if that's all she'd had. Harry had just stood there watching as Bellatrix Lestrange killed his godfather. Killed his only chance of getting away from the Dursleys.  
  
But he'd found a way to get out of that one too. He was here at Grimmauld place with his most favoured DADA Professor. Just these thought and memories sent him into racking sobs, and his shoulders shook violently. His head was pounding with the force of his tears and the flood of his emotion got his scar burning. He heard Lupin in the kitchen, cleaning the cups from their tea and he stalked up the stairs to where He and Ron had shared a room. It was very empty now, and as he looked around his room he remembered his trunk downstairs. He went back down to retrieve it and when he saw his trunk, just his trunk, he almost fainted. Instead, he ran into the kitchen and exploded.  
  
"Professor Lupin, I left Hedwig, er, my owl, back at the Dursleys! I have to go back, I can't just leave her there, they'll kill her!!" Lupin just looked at him for a moment. "First of all, I'm not your Professor anymore. My name is Remus. Not 'Professor Lupin.' It sounds strange anyway. Second of all, She will find you. Where did you leave her?" Harry very strongly didn't believe Lupin. How would Hedwig be able to get out of a shut and locked window? " I left her in my room. But the window was closed, and locked, as was my door." Lupin gave a wry smile. " She'll probably fly over tomorrow morning. When an owl's owner relocates, and say, the owl was out mailing, or hunting, or even back in there cage, they have some magic ability. They can open windows from the inside only, and have a sort of tracking device for their owners. You know, like geese know where to fly?" Okay. but " She was still in her cage." Lupin's expression changed from smart to a kindof distant and thoughtful. " They can open their cages too. I had an owl once, a while ago.. Name was Horatio I think. Yeah, kept on getting out of his cage and I couldn't figure out how. I had begun to wonder if owls could repeat spells, or just had a knack for saying 'Alhomora.'" Now Harry was feeling a lot better and his thoughts began to wander back to Sirius and the department of mysteries and the prophecy. " Oh, are you hungry? I'm about to fix something?" Lupin asked half-heartedly. He sounded just as tired as Harry felt. "No, but thanks. I think I'll just go up to bed. I'm really tuckered out. See you in the morning." He looked at the table to make sure he hadn't set anything down on it. He turned around and headed up the stairs, forgetting everything about Hedwig, his trunk, and about where he was. All he could think about was how he could have saved Sirius.  
  
Late into the night he heard his door open and something heavy get dropped inside, but he did not wake. He didn't care anymore. Whoever it was could kill him, and he wouldn't mind. He had no more real family members left, and he couldn't survive another year at the Dursleys. He heard his door close and almost felt sad that they hadn't even attempted to hurt him. No he was awake and fully aware of where he was. His thoughts swam about his head. Harry looked at the floor and saw his trunk was sat at a strange angle near the door. He thought about it's contents, hoping the boring subject would lull him back to sleep. His wand, that mirror, his Quidditch robes, which he wasn't sure he was going to ever wear again, his biting care of magical creatures textbook, his potions textbook, which had a large patch of book that was missing the green cover because an energy potion gone awry had gotten on it and eaten at it, his photo album, his invisibility cloak, the marauders map. He got to thinking about all the places he hadn't gone in Hogwarts yet, and then a thought came to mind. His father, Prongs, was dead. Sirius, Padfoot, was dead. The death eater of the group, peter, was no longer a marauder because of his betrayal. And Lupin, no, Remus was the very last of the group. He must feel really lonely, Harry thought. I feel lonely, he thought as a foggy sleep crept across his mind, and he was lost in the relief of slumber.  
  
Hate it? Love it ? Find something wrong? REVIEW. Please R&R. If you do, I'll return the favour. I'll only write another chapter If I get 3 reviews, even if there flames. Next chapter will be longer I think. Sorry about typos, if you find any, let me know. If you find anything you completely disagree with, your welcome to send some flames or constructive criticism. I don't post reviews on next chapters, but I do write really long authors notes. (. See ya later! 


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